systemd/man/systemd-random-seed.service.xml
Lennart Poettering 921fc451cb units: rename/rework systemd-boot-system-token.service → systemd-boot-random-seed.service
This renames systemd-boot-system-token.service to
systemd-boot-random-seed.service and conditions it less strictly.

Previously, the job of the service was to write a "system token" EFI
variable if it was missing. It called "bootctl --graceful random-seed"
for that. With this change we condition it more liberally: instead of
calling it only when the "system token" EFI variable isn't set, we call
it whenever a boot loader interface compatible boot loader is used. This
means, previously it was invoked on the first boot only: now it is
invoked at every boot.

This doesn#t change the command that is invoked. That's because
previously already the "bootctl --graceful random-seed" did two things:
set the system token if not set yet *and* refresh the random seed in the
ESP. Previousy we put the focus on the former, now we shift the focus to
the latter.

With this simple change we can replace the logic
f913c784ad added, but from a service that
can run much later and doesn't keep the ESP pinned.
2023-01-04 15:18:10 +01:00

96 lines
5.2 KiB
XML

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!--*-nxml-*-->
<!DOCTYPE refentry PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.5//EN"
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd">
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later -->
<refentry id="systemd-random-seed.service" conditional='ENABLE_RANDOMSEED'>
<refentryinfo>
<title>systemd-random-seed.service</title>
<productname>systemd</productname>
</refentryinfo>
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>systemd-random-seed.service</refentrytitle>
<manvolnum>8</manvolnum>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>systemd-random-seed.service</refname>
<refname>systemd-random-seed</refname>
<refpurpose>Load and save the OS system random seed at boot and shutdown</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<para><filename>systemd-random-seed.service</filename></para>
<para><filename>/usr/lib/systemd/random-seed</filename></para>
</refsynopsisdiv>
<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><filename>systemd-random-seed.service</filename> is a service that loads an on-disk random seed
into the kernel entropy pool during boot and saves it at shutdown. See
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>random</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry> for
details. By default, no entropy is credited when the random seed is written into the kernel entropy pool,
but this may be changed with <varname>$SYSTEMD_RANDOM_SEED_CREDIT</varname>, see below. On disk the random
seed is stored in <filename>/var/lib/systemd/random-seed</filename>.</para>
<para>Note that this service runs relatively late during the early boot phase, i.e. generally after the
initrd phase has finished and the <filename>/var/</filename> file system has been mounted. Many system
services require entropy much earlier than this — this service is hence of limited use for complex
system. It is recommended to use a boot loader that can pass an initial random seed to the kernel to
ensure that entropy is available from earliest boot on, for example
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>, with
its <command>bootctl random-seed</command> functionality.</para>
<para>When loading the random seed from disk, the file is immediately updated with a new seed retrieved
from the kernel, in order to ensure no two boots operate with the same random seed. This new seed is
retrieved synchronously from the kernel, which means the service will not complete start-up until the
random pool is fully initialized. On entropy-starved systems this may take a while. This functionality is
intended to be used as synchronization point for ordering services that require an initialized entropy
pool to function securely (i.e. services that access <filename>/dev/urandom</filename> without any
further precautions).</para>
<para>Care should be taken when creating OS images that are replicated to multiple systems: if the random
seed file is included unmodified each system will initialize its entropy pool with the same data, and
thus — if otherwise entropy-starved — generate the same or at least guessable random seed streams. As a
safety precaution crediting entropy is thus disabled by default. It is recommended to remove the random
seed from OS images intended for replication on multiple systems, in which case it is safe to enable
entropy crediting, see below. Also see <ulink url="https://systemd.io/BUILDING_IMAGES">Safely Building
Images</ulink>.</para>
<para>See <ulink url="https://systemd.io/RANDOM_SEEDS">Random Seeds</ulink> for further
information.</para>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>Environment</title>
<variablelist class='environment-variables'>
<varlistentry>
<term><varname>$SYSTEMD_RANDOM_SEED_CREDIT</varname></term>
<listitem><para>By default, <filename>systemd-random-seed.service</filename> does not credit any
entropy when loading the random seed. With this option this behaviour may be changed: it either takes
a boolean parameter or the special string <literal>force</literal>. Defaults to false, in which case
no entropy is credited. If true, entropy is credited if the random seed file and system state pass
various superficial concisistency checks. If set to <literal>force</literal> entropy is credited,
regardless of these checks, as long as the random seed file exists.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect1>
<refsect1>
<title>See Also</title>
<para>
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd</refentrytitle><manvolnum>1</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>random</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-stub</refentrytitle><manvolnum>7</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>bootctl</refentrytitle><manvolnum>4</manvolnum></citerefentry>,
<citerefentry><refentrytitle>systemd-boot-random-seed.service</refentrytitle><manvolnum>8</manvolnum></citerefentry>
</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>